5.05.2005

Larry Franklin Turns Himself In

Larry Franklin, a former DoD analyst with specialization in Middle Eastern and Iranian affairs, turned himself into the FBI. He was a target of an ongoing four year investigation by the FBI into the illegal procurement of classified material that may have been passed on to non-privelaged people. Franklin's attorney said that he plans to file a plea of innocence.
[Full AP Report]

Over at Justin Raimundo's blog he has already decided that Larry Franklin is an Israeli spy committing acts of treason against the United States. The AP story does not say or imply that Franklin gave classified documents to officials at AIPAC. The anonymous officials speaking to the AP describe that Franklin dictated aspects of classified documents to the AIPAC officials.

I don't know if Franklin was spying on behalf of Israel. The documents in question relate to intelligence that US troops may face attacks from Iranian allied forces when conducting missions in Northern Iraq. A search of Franklin's home turned up 83 classified documents.

Franklin should have had zero classified documents at his home. However, he is not the first government official to bring his work home with him or carelessly handle sensitive documents. FBI Agent John O'neill misplaced a briefcase at a briefing that contained classified documents he was carrying with him. The removal of the documents from the FBI headquarters was wrong. Eventually the incident was used to force O'neill into retirement.

Was O'neill a traitor? He was awfully cozy with security agents in France, Yemen and Italy. In fact, O'neill was a major source of information for the book "Forbidden Truth".